Gynecologic cancer

Facts

Most of the people who come to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center for gynecologic cancer care are referred by a primary care provider, internist or gynecologist. About half of these individuals live in the three-county area that includes Seattle. Most of the rest come from the five-state Pacific Northwest region.

People with gynecologic cancer are often at greater risk for breast cancer. At Fred Hutch you will be able to have breast cancer screening, including mammograms and ultrasounds, here at our Women's Center, rather than going to another facility.

You will also have access to the Women’s Wellness Clinic for follow-up care after treatment.

Learn More About the Women's Wellness Clinic

Screening Checking for disease when there are no symptoms. Because screening may find diseases at an early stage, there may be a better chance of curing the disease Checking for disease when there are no symptoms. Because screening may find diseases at an early stage, there may be a better chance of curing the disease. Examples of cancer screening tests are the mammogram (for breast cancer), colonoscopy (for colon cancer) and Pap and HPV tests (for cervical cancer). Screening can also include a genetic test to check for a person’s risk of developing an inherited disease.

Gynecologic cancer types

Our medical oncologists specialize in treating all types of gynecologic cancers. To find out more about your specific diagnosis, click one of the links below for more information:

Cervical Cancer icon

Endometrial Cancer icon

Ovarian Cancer icon

Vulvar Cancer icon

Uterine Sarcoma icon

Gestational trophoblastic disease

Gestational trophoblastic disease includes several conditions that occur during pregnancy or shortly thereafter. It is a fairly rare cancer that develops in the cells (trophoblasts) that form part of the placenta in a pregnant person. It is also highly treatable, and most women with the disease will be cured.

The pregnancy that triggers GTD may be a miscarriage, a tubal pregnancy or a full-term pregnancy in which a normal baby is delivered.

Any person of reproductive age who has metastatic cancer of unknown primary origin should have a pregnancy test to check her HCG levels to rule out (or confirm) GTD.

There are several types of GTD:

Metastatic A metastatic cancer is a cancer that has spread to other areas of the body by way of the lymph system or bloodstream.

Molar pregnancy

Conception takes place, but a normal fetus does not develop. Instead, the placental tissue grows very fast, resulting in a tumor. There are about 3,000 molar pregnancies a year in the United States, or about one in every 1,000 pregnancies. (This condition is also called hydatidiform mole.)

There are two types of molar pregnancy, complete mole, in which no fetus is formed, and partial mole, in which a fetus forms but is abnormal and will not survive.

This type of GTD does not spread outside the uterus to other parts of the body.

Choriocarcinoma

Choriocarcinoma may have started from a molar pregnancy or from tissue that remains in the uterus after an abortion, an ectopic pregnancy or the delivery of a baby. This type of GTD can spread from the uterus to other parts of the body.

Placenta-site trophoblastic tumor

This is a very rare type of GTD that starts in the uterus where the placenta was attached.

Definitions

hCG: Also known as human chorionic gonadotropin, is a hormone that increases during pregnancy. It also increases when a person has GTD.
Metastatic gestational trophoblastic disease: Despite treatment, gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) sometimes reoccurs. It may come back in the uterus or in another part of the body. This is metastatic (recurrent) GTD. Although tumors may appear in distant sites--such as the liver or brain--it is not a new cancer, it is a recurrence of the original cancer. In some cases, the cancer has already metastasized, or spread, by the time a women discovers that she has GTD.

Metastatic GTD can be put into remission with chemotherapy about 85 to 90 percent of the time.

If you have metastatic GTD, Fred Hutch can offer you new medical procedures and treatments, as well as access to clinical trials, that your community provider may not know about.

No one at Fred Hutch will tell you that a diagnosis of metastatic GTD is not serious, but there is hope, especially if the cancer has not spread to the liver or brain, you have not received prior chemotherapy, your last pregnancy was less than four months ago and your blood levels of HCG are low.

Chemotherapy Treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. It may be given alone or with other treatments. Treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Chemotherapy may be given by mouth, injection, infusion or on the skin, depending on the type and stage of the cancer being treated. It may be given alone or with other treatments, such as surgery, radiation therapy or biologic therapy. Metastatic A metastatic cancer is a cancer that has spread to other areas of the body by way of the lymph system or bloodstream. Recurrence Cancer that has come back, usually after a period during which it could not be detected. It may come back to the same place as the original (primary) tumor or someplace else. Also called recurrent cancer. Remission A decrease in, or disappearance of, signs and symptoms of cancer. A decrease in, or disappearance of, signs and symptoms of cancer. In partial remission, some (but not all) signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared. In complete remission, all signs and symptoms of cancer have disappeared, although cancer still may be in the body.

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